Debris rains on Vietnam village

This was pretty interesting on RSOE today (thanks Wrabbit). The Vietnam Ministry of Defense has opened an investigation into debris that rained down onto a village in the Ham Thuan Nam District. There were no reported injuries and so far at least 50 pieces have been picked up.

It's not clear if it was from a satellite coming down, or an aircraft, but the pieces are described as grey in color, with different sizes. From less than 1 inch thick, to almost 10 feet long, as wide as just over 2 feet, and as heavy as almost 40 pounds. It was reported that there was an explosion in midair before the debris came down. Many residents believe it was an aircraft, but no aircraft were reported in the area at the time.

The Ministry of Defense has ordered an investigation into an explosion in the sky which sent metal pieces raining down on the central province of Binh Thuan last week. Speaking to Thanh Nien on Monday, Col. Pham Van Long, political commissar of the Binh Thuan Military Headquarters, said the ministry's Air Defense Force is studying the metal pieces to learn more about the explosion that happened in Thuan Quy Commune, Ham Thuan Nam District. It happened around noon on Friday with no recorded injuries, but several local people had their house roofs damaged by the flying objects. Ham Thuan Nam District's military headquarters is now storing the metal objects, Long said. Le Cuong, head of Thuan Quy Commune's police division, showed Thanh Nien reporters the storage, saying that local people and agencies have collected more than 50 pieces so far.

hisz.rsoe.hu...

reply to post by Zaphod58

I'm sure we'll hear some more on this soon as pictures start coming in.. We may even be able to identify the items ourselves

Seriously..do you quit...I need a nap!

Don't say its SR-72 picking up on 71's last mission...I need resthats off to you... the stage is yours...

reply to post by kingofyo1


I'm hoping they'll release pictures soon. That will tell us a lot, based on the debris descriptions it's something pretty good sized.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Ok, so no plane, but what if it's a drone? Do those things even show up on radar? And if they do, whose was it and who might have shot it down?

reply to post by aboutface


could be a drone, or it could be a satellite as the story says... Till we receive some more info, its uncertain. Also, pictures would pretty much tell us what it is, and if there was something that hit it causing it to blow or not

I found this today. Interesting looking debris. Anyone know what it is by looking?

A local official shows some of the metal pieces that have been collected by people and agencies since a mysterious explosion in the sky in the central province of Binh Thuan on October 25 / PHOTO: QUE HA

An expert on space debris with the Ministry of Science and Technology told Thanh Nien on condition of anonymity that the pieces must be man-made and their sizes suggested that they came from an object which could be hundreds of times bigger.

He also said there is the possibly that they fell from space, most likely from a rocket booster.

www.thanhniennews.com...

reply to post by Zaphod58


There was an ESA sat due for uncontrolled re-entery just recently...

News Link:
uk.reuters.com...

In my opinion looks like something that is from aircraft, based on the way they look, they look like been built to handle all kinds of stress , i dont think satellite parts are constructed that way... and the one that the guy helds in he:s hands looks just like maintenance hatch on a plane.
I think the Easa satellite havent gone down yet, atleast i haven read or heard about it.
Interesting

What got my attention is the holes on the debris, looks like there are holes melted here and there... how can that happen? i think if that thing where those are from has entered the atmosphere it would melt the whole part , not just randomly little spots here and there.... Almost looks like they were cut with a plasma cutter etc...
Maybe its one of the US military Mini shuttles that came down?
There is something familiar on those structures in the picture but i cant just get my head around it atm...
btw i work in aircraft maintenance sector! Somehow word Boeing pops into my head when looking at them...

zoomer72
In my opinion looks like something that is from aircraft, based on the way they look, they look like been built to handle all kinds of stress , i dont think satellite parts are constructed that way... and the one that the guy helds in he:s hands looks just like maintenance hatch on a plane.
I think the Easa satellite havent gone down yet, atleast i haven read or heard about it.
Interesting

What got my attention is the holes on the debris, looks like there are holes melted here and there... how can that happen? i think if that thing where those are from has entered the atmosphere it would melt the whole part , not just randomly little spots here and there.... Almost looks like they were cut with a plasma cutter etc...

edit on 11/2/2013 by zoomer72 because: (no reason given)

edit on 11/2/2013 by zoomer72 because: (no reason given)

I see your point... I couldnt place where a part like that would possibly be on a satellite unless it would be part of a space station or something similar. Those holes do indeed seem to be something indicative of a weapon attack. If they were burning up in atmosphere, and those areas with the holes were very thin spots, the heat buildup could have possibly melted the metal but thats the only other explanation i can think of

reply to post by Iamschist


My first instinct says plane of some sort. Without a lot more to go on, I can't tell you what, or where those would fit though.

reply to post by Zaphod58


I'd really like to see some more of the wreckage.. Maybe the bigger pieces would help us fit it into the puzzle

kingofyo1
reply to post by Zaphod58

 

I'd really like to see some more of the wreckage.. Maybe the bigger pieces would help us fit it into the puzzle

Yeah, more pics would help, also what bothers me is that there is no charring on the parts what indicates that the explosion that ripped them apart from the rest didnt generate much heat and happened quite fast so to speak, i mean not by "slow" melting... ill flash these pictures to a friend of mine who works mostly with military craft and see if he has an idea...
BTW parts look greyish to me which could indicate military craft of some sort but cant be sure if its the natural color or just looks like it from these photos

reply to post by zoomer72


You're entirely correct on coloring. The parts ARE a lighter greyish, as can be seen from the areas in between the raised ribbing. The darker coloring on the ribbing would be the charred portion

Going by gut instinct, I'd say the pieces look more damaged by re-entry rather than an explosion or 'disintegration' of an aircraft. There must have been an awful amount of heat to melt thinner portions like that.

Either that or the aircraft had to be doing incredible speeds.

reply to post by masqua


Wouldn't it be interesting if this is why Skunk Works went public?

reply to post by Zaphod58


SR-72?

Yeah… the thought occurred to me.

masqua
Going by gut instinct, I'd say the pieces look more damaged by re-entry rather than an explosion or 'disintegration' of an aircraft. There must have been an awful amount of heat to melt thinner portions like that.

Either that or the aircraft had to be doing incredible speeds.

Might be but why would it melt thinner parts here and there? i think that should of melted all the thinner parts if that was the case, and if you look at the bigger part in that picture there is a "cut" line that is going trough a "rib" too...

reply to post by Zaphod58


I'd be seriously wondering what would make a 72 going between m4-6 at 100k ft fall out of the sky? it'd have to be technical difficulty on the plane, not from it being attacked right?

reply to post by kingofyo1


Oh yeah. If they couldn't hit the -71 at Mach 3, I doubt anything could hit the -72 going faster.